DHL Supply Chain pushes ahead with profits

DHL Supply Chain increased profits faster than sales last year, Deutsche Post DHL has revealed in its annual results. Group CEO Frank Appel said: “In 2014 we were able to further successfully execute Strategy 2015 despite the lack of significant tailwind from the global economy.

EBIT at DHL Supply Chain was up 5.4 per cent at €465m while revenue rose 3.6 per cent to €14.6bn for 2014.

Revenue growth was mainly driven by the Life Sciences & Healthcare sector and the Europe region. At €1.2bn, the volume of new contracts concluded with new and existing customers remains at a high level (2013: €1.5bn ) especially, the group said, given that the division is being more selective on profitability when closing new contracts.

Deutsche Post DHL said that this performance was expected to be further enhanced in future years by standardisation, increased efficiency, and leveraging skills on a global scale.

The Express division also saw significant gains in revenues and earnings. Reported revenues amounted to €12.5bn, a gain of 5.7 per cent over 2013. EBIT rose by 16.3 per cent to €1.3bn in 2014 The 2014 EBIT margin climbed to 10.1 per cent, and with this exceeded the projected 10 per cent margin one year ahead of target.

Frank Appel

However, in Global Forwarding – Freight the operating profit fell by 38.7 per cent to €293m, despite a moderate revenue increase of 0.9 per cent to €14.9bn.

Revenue in the Post – eCommerce – Parcel (PeP) division climbed by 2.6 per cent to €15.7bn. The operating profit of the PeP-division increased by 0.9 per cent to €1.3bn in 2014.

Overall, EBIT increased 3.5 per cent to €2.97bn in 2014, while revenue was up 3.1 per cent at €56.6bn.

Group CEO Frank Appel said: “In 2014 we were able to further successfully execute Strategy 2015 despite the lack of significant tailwind from the global economy. This year we begin executing Strategy 2020 in each of our divisions. While we remain on our growth path in 2015, we will focus on the opportunities and challenges we face to further strengthen our competitiveness for the successful future of our group.”